Welcome to Labyrinth Wars, the most advanced gladiator simulator ever to grace the internet! this is probably a lie

Do you have what it takes to conquer the maze, defeat your foes and win the Tournament of the Labyrinth?

Signups still open - fill in the form at the bottom if you want in!

(If you want to spectate/bet but not play let me know and I'll add you to the leaderboard/mailing lists)

How do I play?

Each player creates a character to fight in the tournament. Each match begins with a number of players in identical mazes leading to a central arena. The players must traverse the maze, solving puzzles, fighting enemies and gaining loot along the way, before facing off against their opponents at the end. Make sure to hurry though; the first players to reach the arena will gain a bonus to aid them in the fight - items, equipment or even stat buffs - so the longer you spend in the maze, the more you risk being beaten in the fight (think the Colosso tourney from Golden Sun and you'll have an idea of how things go).
The tournament itself runs on a double elimination basis: even if you're beaten once, you could still end up in the grand final if you prove yourself in the losers bracket.

How does the combat work?

The fights play out in a turn-based fashion, but with a twist - you can act multiple times each turn. Each move you use costs a certain number of Action Points (AP), meaning you can string together multiple moves in a turn so long as you have enough AP to do so. These points regenerate at the end of each turn, but this is affected by your Speed and Dexterity stats - Speed determines how many points you regain per turn, while Dexterity determines the maximum number of AP you can have at a time.

How does character creation work?

There are three basic classes to choose from: Knight, Mage and Rogue. Each of these caters to different play styles and have different movesets and special abilities as a result. They also have different base stats, affecting how they'll grow as you level up. However, you are able to customise their stats to an extent by spending Stat Points you can earn through levelling up and certain bonuses or items. The different stats are as follows:

Vitality - Affects how much HP your character has. For every two SP in Vitality, your character gains an additional hitpoint.
Power - Affects your character's attack strength. For every ten SP in Power, your character gains one point to their base Attack.
Fortitude - Affects how much damage your character takes. For every ten SP in Fortitude, your character gains one point to their base Defence.
Agility - Affects how quick your character is; this in turn affects turn order and AP regeneration. For every ten Agility points, your character gains one to their base Speed*.
Dexterity - Affects how efficient your character is in battle. For every ten SP in Dexterity, your character's maximum AP increases by one.
Skill - Affects your character's mastery of their abilities. With each milestone you reach in Skill, your character unlocks a new tier of moves (there are four tiers in total).

Knights capitalise on raw strength - they have a solid attack and defence, meaning they can deal and take damage in equal measure, although their bulky armour weighs them down and lessens their agility somewhat. Their attacks aren't just about raw power though; many of their moves rely on tactically preempting their opponent's actions to strike back even harder.
Base stats:

Maze Specialty: Miracle - Once per match, offer a prayer to the gods to confer immunity from a single trap or other environmental hazard.
Combat Specialty: Divine Protection - Once per fight, receive immunity from debuffs for two turns.

Mage

Mages rely on powerful spells to deal high damage and augment their abilities, making them highly versatile fighters. However, they're also quite frail and their agility doesn't match up to their dexterity, meaning they can be left lacking in AP if they aren't careful.
Base Stats:

Maze Specialty: Crystal Ball - Once per match, use magic to get a peek at your opponent, showing you how far they are through the maze, their current HP and what they're currently doing.
Combat Specialty: Illusion - Once per fight, sacrifice some HP to create an illusion which will take attacks for you until it fades from damage.

Rogue

Rogues fight fast and dirty - they might have lower attack and defence than the other two classes, but their speed and dexterity is unmatched. They also have a wide array of tricks up their sleeve to create various negative effects on their opponent.
Base stats:

Maze Specialty: Lockpick - Rogues have a chance to open chests without retrieving the key, cutting down on time spent searching the maze.
Combat Specialty: Smokescreen - Once per fight, throw a smoke bomb, halving the opponent's chance to hit you for a turn.

Along with these base stats, you also begin with 30 SP to spend as you please. However, you cannot invest more than 20 points into a single stat in this initial customisation.

How will the game run? Won't I be able to just spy on the others?

The bulk of the game will run via private messages, with players submitting actions and receiving updates on their progress in the maze through PMs. The first player to reach the central arena will be judged by how many actions they took to get there as opposed to real time so that people who can't get online for whatever reason don't get penalised. The PvP fights will take place in-thread, but players must still submit actions via PM. This doesn't mean there won't be anything for those not involved in the current match to do, however; spectators will receive updates on how players are doing, again through PM. On top of that, they'll have the chance to bet on the outcome of each match to keep things interesting.

[b]Username[/b]:
[b]Character name[/b]:
[b]Class[/b]:
[b]Bio[/b]: (Optional but it gives me more flavour to work with)
[b]SP spending[/b]:(NB: Skill can't be upgraded at this point, and you can't save these initial points for later)

I hope you do a better job of hosting this than you did with Pirates and PoL....
Don't worry, this time I've actually done the necessary Prior Planning to Prevent Piss Poor Performance and the smaller number of players per update should make things a lot easier. Also I have bugger all else to be doing at the minute.

Sign ups will run at least to the end of the week, maybe longer if more people are needed.
Any questions, ask in thread or hit me up on PM or IRC or something

Last edited by Rik on Sat Sep 03, 2016 5:24 pm, edited 4 times in total.

Ghost wrote:and since when has "being dumb" been a sin on the internet?

Tier 2:
Knife Slash - Slash hard at your enemy with a sharp dagger. (Pow 2, 3AP)
Acid Bomb - Throw a corrosive bomb at the enemy to wear away their armour, lowering their defence. (Pow 0, 3AP)
Leech Blade - Using a magic dagger you bought on the black market, stab an enemy and heal yourself by a proportion of the damage dealt. Efficiency falls if used repeatedly in a turn. (Pow 1, 4AP)

Maze Specialty: Lockpick - Rogues have a chance to open chests without retrieving the key, cutting down on time spent searching the maze.
Combat Specialty: Smokescreen - Once per fight, throw a smoke bomb, halving the opponent's chance to hit you for a turn.

Maze Specialty: Crystal Ball - Once per match, use magic to get a peek at your opponent, showing you how far they are through the maze, their current HP and what they're currently doing.
Combat Specialty: Illusion - Once per fight, sacrifice some HP to create an illusion which will take attacks for you until it fades from damage.

Moves:
Tier 1
Sword Slash - Hack at the enemy with your sword. (Pow 2, 3AP)
Defensive Stance - Raise defence for two turns. (3AP)
Hold Ground - Bide your time, then strike at the end of the turn with an attack which grows more powerful the more damage you take while this move is active. (Pow 0-5, 4AP)

Maze Specialty: Miracle - Once per match, offer a prayer to the gods to confer immunity from a single trap or other environmental hazard.
Combat Specialty: Divine Protection - Once per fight, receive immunity from debuffs for two turns.

Items:
1) Empty
2) Empty
3) Empty

Last edited by Rik on Fri Sep 16, 2016 12:30 am, edited 16 times in total.

Ghost wrote:and since when has "being dumb" been a sin on the internet?

[b]Username[/b]: Garf
[b]Character name[/b]: Bert The Unassuming
[b]Class[/b]: Rogue
[b]Bio[/b]: Bert was a guy from a poor upbringing. Fighting and stealing to survive, he realised something. If you look as unassuming as possible, no-one suspects you. As such, he made himself into the most plain human being on the planet. No-one expects a thing when they see him and minutes later, he is off with your treasures to sell for a meager amount. Eventually he got arrested because he became so plain and dull, he swung back around to being suspicious on account of 'no-one is that boring and not up to something'
[b]SP spending[/b]: 10 Fortitude, 4 Vitality, 10 Power, 6 Agility

Username: Aren142Character name: HarmClass: MageBio: A young self-taught practitioner of magic, always lost in her books. When she started to try using her magic in public to help the people of her village, she was instead accused of being a witch. She ended up burning down her village in a slightly botched attempt at escaping execution.SP spending: 10 Power, 15 Agility, 5 Dexterity

<Kaeetayel> Go for a team entirely composed of Eeveelutions
<Princess> that's effort
<Princess> I need to buy the stones/go to rocks/make them happy/touch Eevee
<Kaeetayel> The last one doesn't sound too bad

<Kaeetayel> Go for a team entirely composed of Eeveelutions
<Princess> that's effort
<Princess> I need to buy the stones/go to rocks/make them happy/touch Eevee
<Kaeetayel> The last one doesn't sound too bad

[b]Username[/b]: Vtheyoshi
[b]Character name[/b]: Cassius Malleus
[b]Class[/b]: Knight
[b]Bio[/b]: Cassius hails from a faraway empire known only as the imperium. From a young age he was indoctrinated into the worship of his allegedly immortal and powerful emperor, thus he trained for much of his life with the intention of one day serving his leige on the battlefield. Being a Holy Knight of his order, his sole purpose is to crush the imperium's enemies while spreading their religion, which he carries out with zealous dedication.
[b]SP spending[/b]: 10 into power, 4 into vit, 6 into fortitude, 10 into dex

Thanks to yung Kriken for the sig and avatar (asuka best girl)MALDeviantart (trying to be more active nowadays, views are always appreciated) UPDATED 21/06/17

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Labyrinth Championships! To start proceedings we have two infamous criminals here to fight for your entertainment and earn their freedom, all while braving the dangers of the Labyrinth! Let's meet our challengers...
On the East side, we have the accidental arsonist, the magical mademoiselle, Harm! Can she redeem herself in the arena, or will she soon be joining her fellow villagers in the afterlife?
And on the West side, he's the thief notorious for his inconspicuousness, famed for his anonymity and feared for his complete lack of notable features, it's Bert the Unassuming! Can he make a name for himself as a gladiator? Or will he return to obscurity in death?
And now, the moment you've all been waiting for, it's time to have a look at today's arena! Harm and Bert will be traversing the Dark Dungeon, a ruined prison teeming with all sorts of ghastly creatures! And as for their prize for being first to the end? Well, let's just say the fastest gladiator is going to pack one hell of a punch...
Now, without further ado, let's get down to business! Betting will open very soon for our esteemed audience, but first, let's get the battle underway. Gladiators, on my mark; three, two, one - enter the Labyrinth!

The first match of Round 1 is now underway. Gladiator PMs will be out shortly, spectator PMs just after that.

Ghost wrote:and since when has "being dumb" been a sin on the internet?

Must not burn down the maze... must not burn down the maze... SET FIRE TO EVERYTHING

<Kaeetayel> Go for a team entirely composed of Eeveelutions
<Princess> that's effort
<Princess> I need to buy the stones/go to rocks/make them happy/touch Eevee
<Kaeetayel> The last one doesn't sound too bad

And I made it out alive. With a single hit point to my name. All in just 400 turns. I've got this.

<Kaeetayel> Go for a team entirely composed of Eeveelutions
<Princess> that's effort
<Princess> I need to buy the stones/go to rocks/make them happy/touch Eevee
<Kaeetayel> The last one doesn't sound too bad

<Kaeetayel> Go for a team entirely composed of Eeveelutions
<Princess> that's effort
<Princess> I need to buy the stones/go to rocks/make them happy/touch Eevee
<Kaeetayel> The last one doesn't sound too bad

Getting the key wasn't difficult if you can hit things with lightning.

<Kaeetayel> Go for a team entirely composed of Eeveelutions
<Princess> that's effort
<Princess> I need to buy the stones/go to rocks/make them happy/touch Eevee
<Kaeetayel> The last one doesn't sound too bad

Looks like our first challenger has reached the arena! The winner of the maze race, and more importantly this round's battle bonus, is...
Harm!
Yes, our little sorceress may not be as nimble as the infamous thief she's been pitted against, but she's still beaten him to the end of the maze!

Harm/Aren142:
Turns - 22
HP - 18/30

And here comes her opponent now! Poor old Bert made a few wrong turns; first he got stuck at the weak wall and then some giant bats held him up when he went after the Treasure Chest, and to top it all off his lockpick didn't work, meaning it was all for nothing! Can he shake off his bad luck in the arena?

Bert/Garf:
Turns - 29.5
HP - 18/26

Now, let's get them patched up and send them into battle! Since Harm got here first she'll be receiving today's battle bonus - a bespoke Power Aura to make sure she really hits Bert where it hurts!

Bert and Harm have both been healed!
Harm receives a Power Aura! Her attack is boosted for the first four turns! (This effect stacks with other stat boosts!)

<Kaeetayel> Go for a team entirely composed of Eeveelutions
<Princess> that's effort
<Princess> I need to buy the stones/go to rocks/make them happy/touch Eevee
<Kaeetayel> The last one doesn't sound too bad